Protective Streak
by tearsofamiko
Summary: He’d never come across anyone who inspired such protectiveness within him, not since Kelly.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Protective Streak

Author: Tearsofamiko

Rating: K

Disclaimer: Liars make my ears itch; I try not to have that happen.

Spoilers: _SWAK_

Summary: He'd never come across anyone who inspired such protectiveness within him, not since Kelly.

A/N: : :sigh: : I watched _SWAK_ again and had to write something. Ah, such a lovely, emotionally charged episode. Plus, who doesn't love a beat-up Tony? Come on, now. ^^ BTW, shameless quote thievery: none of the dialogue is mine. It's all from the episode.

* * *

The sight hit him like a punch to the gut, knocking him askew for a moment. He didn't allow his step to falter, called up all of his Marine training to keep his face impassive. He didn't know how Kate'd stayed here for so long, was amazed by her fortitude; he knew she had steel in her backbone, didn't realize it extended into her emotions. He admired her for it, wished he could have been there himself, but knew he couldn't have handled it. It had been bad enough when Kelly was sick.

He strode – in appearance – confidently into the isolation room, brushing past the doctor blocking his way. He's completely focused on the man on the bed, on the paleness of his skin, the labored rasp of his breathing. It's the most gut-wrenching sound he'd ever heard and the most welcome; as long as he struggled, as long as he fought, there was still a chance. He held tightly to that thought as he drew close to the bed, as the full damage of Hannah Lowell's wrath became painfully obvious.

He saw past the oxygen-deprived darkness of his nose, lips and fingertips, past the shuddering and choking, past the sweat-soaked hair, to the pained, haunted, terrified glimmer deep within dulled green eyes. He had never drowned before, never had to fight for the air to live, couldn't completely comprehend what exactly his agent was going through. However, he'd dealt with enough injured comrades during his years in the Corps and with enough of his own injuries to have some idea.

Didn't stop the worry, though.

He'd never come across anyone who inspired such protectiveness within him, not since Kelly. Yet here he was now, damn-near sick with the knowledge that there's only a fifteen percent chance the younger man will make it through this. He didn't know how to handle it, so he covered it with his usual tough-ass routine. He'd growled at the hospital staff, held a lab-rat at gunpoint, snarled and barked orders at his team, all trying to diffuse the situation, to cover the emotions.

It wasn't really working.

He leaned over the bed, leaned down next to his agent, placing himself close enough to see the beads of sweat on the younger man's forehead. He hesitated for the barest second, not breathing, not speaking, hardly thinking in the face of such pointless, merciless destruction. Then he took a breath and spoke.

"Tony, can you hear me?" he asked in a low voice, speaking right into his ear.

"I'm listening, Boss," was the eventual response, preceded by several choking, hesitantly shallow breaths.

"You will not die." Gibbs refused to allow his voice to waver in the slightest, refused to even consider an alternative. He was met by silence, however, and for a brief second he felt his heart lurch as Tony's eyes slipped shut. Forcing himself to be brusque, forceful, knowing the younger agent wouldn't be able to refuse him as such, Gibbs reached out and carefully tapped Tony's forehead, a pitiful approximation of his usual wake-up call. Its effect was immediate as the younger man's eyes snapped open, abruptly at attention despite the demands of his body. "I said you. Will not. Die."

Tony hesitated for a second, not even trying to breathe as he processed Gibbs' words, before responding. "I gotcha, Boss," he replied, the words choked and guttural as he fought the congestion in his chest and the urge to cough.

He relaxed then, though the case wasn't over and Tony wasn't out of the woods yet. However, it was all within reach: Hannah Lowell was in custody and DiNozzo wouldn't dare defy a direct order. A few loose ends and time were all that lacked and they would sort themselves out eventually. Mission accomplished, Gibbs turned to leave, then spun back to face the bed. He took Tony's hand in his, tucked the new cell-phone he'd been carrying with him through this whole fiasco into the lax palm, and closed his fingers around the device, patting his agent's hand briefly.

"It's your new cell. I'd get the number changed. Women keep calling for Spanky," he mentioned as he made his way out of the room.

He was almost through the airlock when he noticed the way DiNozzo was clinging to the new phone and his gut clenched as the image of a little red-haired girl clutching a teddy bear to her chest overlaid the scene in isolation. He shook his head and grinned to himself, even as the weight of DiNozzo's trust in him settled heavily on his shoulders. He squeezed Kate's shoulder as he passed, caught Ducky's eye, and nodded to the clean-cut, worn-looking doctor hovering nearby.

Pausing for a moment in the hallway, he vowed that Hannah Lowell would pay for what she'd done, would know his vengeance before the brain-tumor took away his opportunity. Continuing his journey through the hospital, he flipped open his cell-phone and dialed Cassie's number.

It was time they got down to the bottom of this.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I thought this was done. Apparently not. ^^

* * *

In the halogen lights of the elevator, DiNozzo looked anything but 'fine,' no matter how hard he was trying. Four years should have told him that Gibbs could easily see through his acts. Besides, all the jokes and excuses in the world couldn't hide the sunken eyes, the hollow cheeks, and loose clothes, the carefully muffled almost-coughs or the way the younger man leaned against the wall because he needed to. And Gibbs had seen the destruction Hannah Lowell's bug had wrecked, had made Ducky tell him exactly what had happened to his agent so he knew how far to push him.

DiNozzo most assuredly was not fine. But he was better.

He didn't have to fight to breathe anymore, could sit up and walk around and come to work without collapsing from a lack of oxygen. Color had started returning to his face and, though his eyes were still somewhat haunted, they'd regained their usual sparkle. Gibbs looked his agent over in satisfaction. Damage had been done, but Hannah Lowell hadn't won.

Still, he felt like he had to say it.

"You sure you're up for this?"

"Never felt better," was the quick response, even as his eyes refused to meet Gibbs'.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"You look like crap," he said as he turned to face the doors again. He didn't see DiNozzo's expression fall, but he felt it as surely as a drop in temperature.

"I missed you, too, Boss." There was a flat sort of quality to the younger agent's voice, same as the expression Gibbs'd seen in his eyes after they'd rescued him from that sewer last year. It tugged at him, pulled forward the flood of emotion he'd felt standing next to that hospital bed in isolation. Just like then, though, he hid from it, covered it with gruffness.

"You got another week of sick leave comin', Tony. You should take it."

"I was goin' crazy at home. Maybe I'm not a hundred percent but you need me." It was a simple statement, not a question, but Gibbs could feel the plea behind it, recognized that the younger man needed to be back among the team, needed to hear something other than his own thoughts, to do more than sit and remember. He turned and glanced at Tony out of the corner of his eye, let the younger man read what he would from that glance, from the half-smile he couldn't suppress. "Okay, what about Kate and McGee? I mean, they're practically lost without me."

"Got more work done in the last two weeks than the whole year," Gibbs mentioned as the elevator chimed and the doors opened. He left the elevator and felt DiNozzo following behind him, desperate questions bubbling below his surface calm.

"But they did miss me, right?"

"Yeah, somethin' like that." He walked briskly and was proud to notice the younger man keeping step with him; despite the exhaustion still painfully obvious in his appearance, Tony was stubborn enough not to show the weakness in his actions.

"I can't wait to see their faces!" he crowed, a little kid in his excitement to see his friends and coworkers again. Gibbs smirked to himself as he went to his desk, letting his agents work out among themselves the return of their colleague.

It was good to have them all back together again.

* * *

A/N: I think this is the best place to stop this. It's not done yet, though. :D I'll update soon, I promise. Probably tonight, if the crew cooperates. We'll see.


	3. Chapter 3

_Sorry for the wait! Shouldn't be as long for the next chapter, but I'm not making any promises._

* * *

Somehow, he wasn't entirely surprised by how Tony's return was welcomed. Judging by the funk McGee had been in and Kate's determined irritation with DiNozzo despite his absence, they'd decided to hide their relief at his early appearance rather than smother him with worry and affection and Gibbs didn't much mind letting them. The sooner DiNozzo was back to normal, the sooner the team was back to normal and babying his senior field agent wasn't the way back to normal.

He barely paid attention to the interplay of his agents, too sidetracked by the memory of the last time they were all in the squad room together. As the sheepish, repentant look that had graced Tony's face as they evacuated flashed through his mind, he ruthlessly shoved the image away, knowing it would only lead to further guilt-ridden memories from Bethesda, a dangerous path to follow. Instead he forced himself to forget the past for the time being and focus on the present, where all of his people, Ducky and Abby included, were safely where they needed to be.

Glancing up to monitor the situation, Gibbs caught the disappointed, almost lost look in the kid's eyes and wondered, though, if maybe McGee and Kate weren't taking it a bit far. Much as they needed the normalcy, some sign of appreciation and welcome was also necessary, if only because of the past few weeks' events. Barely paying any attention to Kate beyond a location, he deliberately tossed the truck keys to McGee, bracing himself for the further upset he knew would show in DiNozzo's expressive green eyes.

"Maybe I did die," he heard Tony mutter to himself, but waited till Kate and McGee were in the elevator to respond. They wouldn't understand but he knew his second would.

Grabbing his Sig and jacket, he stepped next to DiNozzo, seeing and understanding the preoccupation in his eyes. Not giving him enough time to dwell on recently acquired demons, he moved forward with his plan. "You feel that?"

"What?" Tony asked, confusion replacing bewilderment as he glanced over at his boss. The slap Gibbs delivered to the back of his head is different than usual. Not too hard but still attention-getting, it was meant to point out the obvious: DiNozzo _was_ alive and his co-workers were _very_ glad of it. "Oh." Realization began to dawn as he cut a glance at Gibbs.

"You're still alive," Gibbs assured him, before heading toward the elevator. "Welcome back, DiNozzo!" he called over his shoulder at the motionless agent.

He didn't need to see the small smile to know it was there.

By the time they all arrived at the crime scene, he could tell things had started to get better. McGee and Kate's behavior around DiNozzo had mellowed some, less harsh and more normal, as they figured out how much Tony hadn't changed, despite the plague. Shaking his head at their behavior, he left them at the truck gathering their gear, preferring they work out the rest of their kinks without his supervision.

Discussing the state of the car and the deceased, Gibbs felt a sense of blessed relief at how routine everything was. A relatively straightforward shooting made interesting by one victim's missing pieces for his team to focus on while settling back into their old rhythms was just what they needed.

Not that he'd wanted to be investigating the deaths of a pair of servicemen.

Turning from his conversation with Kate about the missing hands, he watched as DiNozzo started to make his way down the hill, barely paying attention to his footing as he read off the information he'd gotten from the local LEOs attending the scene. He'd seen Kate's foot slide earlier as she'd worked her way down to the car, knew from his own descent how deceptively steep the slope was. He'd just begun to think that maybe someone should warn him when Tony's feet betrayed him, tangling in the tall grass and each other, sending him tumbling down the hill.

He was frozen in place as his agent rolled down the hill, time stretching out so that each grunt and exhalation of pain seemed to echo in his mind. He could feel Kate's concern from where she stood next to him, wondered if this would be what it took for her to give in and let go of her over-exaggerated disregard for his return. They both stayed where they were, though, held in place by stunned disbelief until Tony rolled to a halt at their feet, groaning.

"Ow." The one, hoarse word spoke volumes and something in Gibbs' gut clenched at how tense DiNozzo's body was, as if the slightest movement would be agonizing. Instantly he was back in the hospital, helplessly watching as his agent struggled to breathe through the coughing, unable to take away the pain that wracked the younger man with each deep, sharp bark.

"You ok?" he asked, taking refuge in average, everyday gruffness. He felt, more than saw, the flick of Kate's eyes in his direction, her gaze filled with frustrated incredulity at his reaction even as she followed his lead and treated the situation as she would have in the past.

"Just tryin' to catch my breath," Tony muttered, his voice barely audible over the ambient sounds of the crime scene. Gibbs studied his downed agent for a second, watched as the stress lines around his mouth ease a little as the shock and pain of falling down the hill started to recede. When he was certain Tony really _was_ all right, he turned to face the away from the crime scene.

"Should've taken that extra week off, DiNozzo," Gibbs mentioned casually as he started up the hill, knowing Tony needed the normal reaction as much as he did. He wasn't completely heartless, though. "Help him up, Kate," he instructed, even as he tossed out orders, steadily climbing the hill all the while.


End file.
